Honk has a somewhat clear view

Q. What is the process for determining if people can see well enough to drive, especially older people? I have heard things that give me concern. The Department of Motor Vehicles should help keep drivers from being licensed if they are unable to pass the vision test.

– J. B. Coop, Anaheim

A. Oh, Honk agrees – there are plenty of people out there on the highways who see like eagles and should stick to taxis, thumbing lifts from friends and mass transit.

Motorists must get their licenses renewed every five years, but if their records are pretty clean, only each third time – every 15 years – do they have to step foot inside a DMV office for a written and vision test.

When we turn 70, though, we must enter the overly crowded halls of the DMV every five years – an added precaution to ensure those on the roads should be.

For most of us, to test out eyes, the Snellen chart – you know, the one with letters on various lines – is behind the counter and we read them off. When people fail, said Jessica Gonzalez, a DMV spokeswoman, they can use the Optec 1000, in which you put your eyes up against a viewer and peer inside a machine.

"The Optec is more accurate and measures acuity," Gonzalez said. "The vision screening does not substitute for a drive test or one's ability to drive. Only a measurement of vision."

It was unclear to Honk and Gonzalez, who was asking mates in the Sacramento DMV H.Q., what the Optec tests for as opposed to the chart. Honk will pass that info along when he snags it. Either way, he did unearth that the DMV requirement for driving is having at least 20/40 vision.

Q. Is it legal to use an unaltered copy of my driver's license for identification purposes?

– Don Price, Mission Viejo

A. "For it to be a valid proof of ID for a government official, it has to be the actual document issued," said Ray Payton, an officer and spokesman for the California Highway Patrol's Westminster H.Q.

A copy is better than nothing, as it would help the cop run the person through the state database, but someone without the real deal could certainly get cited.

As an aside, Payton told Honk that officers do come across fake IDs and titles, and that even uniformed officers when dining occasionally get asked for their IDs to ensure the credit cards are theirs.